Levels and tissue distribution of persistent organic pollutants (pops) in three antarctic fish species: identification of target organs for biomonitoring

LANA, NERINA B.; COVACI, ADRIAN; BERTON, PAULA; BARRERA OROS, ESTEBAN; CIOCCO, NESTOR F.; ALTAMIRANO, JORGELINA C.

Congreso; ARGENTINA Y AMBIENTE 2012, CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE CIENCIA Y TECNOLOGÍA AMBIENTAL. I CONGRESO NACIONAL DE LA SOCIEDAD ARGENTINA DE CIENCIA Y TECNOLOGÍA AMBIENTAL; 2012

Long-range atmospheric transport has been described as the predominant mechanism for exposing polar regions to persistent organic pollutants (POPs). POPs reach extreme regions as a result of natural processes involving soil, water and air.1 Afterwards, they are accumulating in the environment and fatty tissues of living organisms where they are biomagnified throughout food chains. In the present study, we investigate the accumulation of some POPs including polychlorinated biphenyl ethers (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ether and methoxy congeners (PBDEs, MeO-BDEs), hexachlorocyclohexane (α-, -, -HCH), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene DDE dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane (DDD), trans- and cis-nonachlor (TN, CN), oxychlordane (OxC) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) in three species of Antarctic fish (Trematomus newnesi, Notothenia coriiceps and Notothenia rossii). The distribution of chemicals among different body tissues depends on the biochemical properties of the compound rather than its physicochemical, including its lipophilicity. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the presence of the above mentioned contaminants in muscle, liver, gonads and gills in order to determine the distribution of the studied POPs for a specific body tissue. Based on this information it is possible to define target organs for biomonitoring purposes. The results show that PCB levels were about 36% of total contaminant load followed by PBDEs and DDT (and metabolites) with 15% and 11% respectively. PCB, OxC, TN, CN, DDE, DDD and MeO-BDE concentrations levels were positively correlated with the lipid content. For some classes of POPs (e.g. PCBs, HCH and DDTs), concentration levels seem to increase slightly in gonads (highest levels of PCBs in gonads 77 ng g-1 lipid weight). For others POPs, the highest values were in gills with a mean concentration of 13, 6.5 and 3.5 ng g-1 lipid weight for HCB, PBDEs and TN, respectively, indicating that gills represent the main uptake pathway for such hydrophobic compounds from water column. Our data suggest that Antarctic fish is exposed to POPs, confirm their global transport, and that gonads and gills are the target tissue for selected compounds.